Telfer: Organ donor registry: Ask and you receive

Published 3:00 am, Sunday, August 7, 2011

Politicians love to send out press releases touting their accomplishments. So it was not unusual to see a press release faxed to the Daily News last week concerning Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s initiative to increase organ donor registration in Michigan.

The press release did contain some really good news. Organ donor registrations have now seen double-digit increases over a year ago for three consecutive months. May saw a 20 percent hike, June a 25 percent jump and in July, registrations were up 28 percent.

All of this has occurred since Johnson launched her “RESTART the HEART: Same Goal. A Whole New Beat” campaign more than three months ago.

That’s great, right? If Michigan has more donors registered, it only stands to reason that more lives will be saved through organ transplants. So I am happy to give Johnson a pat on the pack for this progress. But her press release also left me shaking my head about how government sometimes works.

Here are the next couple of lines in the press release:

“In April, Johnson directed branch employees, time permitting, to ask customers if they would like to sign up for the registry.

‘Simply asking the question is making a difference because, given the opportunity, many people support the idea of organ donation and are willing to say yes to the gift of life,’ Johnson said. ‘Watching these numbers climb these first few months has been rewarding because we know it will save lives, but Michigan has a long way to go.’”

So, the backbone of this big campaign is having Secretary of State employees ask customers if they would like to sign up for the donor registry? Shouldn’t they have been doing that all along, since Secretary of State offices have always been the focal point of the donor registry program?

You can see why I was shaking my head.

But I also have to give Johnson credit, because at least she directed employees to start asking the question. And by doing so she and her staff are achieving positive results, with more than 37,000 people being added to the registry in July alone.

But, as Johnson said, Michigan still has a ways to go. The state is ranked 44th in the county in terms of percentage of donor registrations when compared to overall population.

My guess is that those other 43 states got the jump on us when it comes to asking whether customers want to register to be organ donors.

Rachel’s wish update

Last week I wrote about Rachel Beckwith’s birthday wish for people to donate to an organization that provides clean water to families in undeveloped countries rather than provide her with gifts. Rachel ended up dying after a 14-vehicle crash on an expressway in Washington state. But her birthday wish has lived on.

As of Friday afternoon, nearly 22,500 people had donated to her cause, raising more than $804,000. With 15 days left in the campaign as of today, Rachel’s wish could end up topping $1 million.

Phenomenal. Rachel’s mom had this to say at the website for donations:

“I am in awe of the overwhelming love to take my daughters dream and make it a reality. In the face of unexplainable pain you have provided undeniable hope.”

John “Jack” Telfer is editor of the Daily News. Check out his blog, “Faith and Folly,” in the blog section of ourmidland.com.